The Tumeka Leader SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1889.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1976, 30 November 1889, Page 2

The Tumeka Leader SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1889.

SIR THOMAS GRATTAN ESMONDE. Sib Thomas Geattan Esmonds will lecture in tho Volunteer Drillshed, Temuka, on Thursday evening, December 5, and, therefore, a few words concerning him may not prove inappropriate. Sir Thomas is only 28 years of age, and has been in j parliament for four years. His i maided speech in the House attracted f »nuch attention, and elicited com‘•■a from friends and foes ? Ho piimem- *»«at 0 f our hnowledge has not to the respect been in gaol, and iu occupies almost a unique p 0&... Mr Stead, of the Pall Hall Gazette, . once said that “ every man worth his j salt in Ireland had been in gaol,” and * he was very nearly right; but the fact f

that Sir Thomas has not had that honor conferred upon him must not be placed to his discredit too hastily. Very shortly after his election to Parliament he was employed by Mr Parnell on what we may call the foreign service. He was sent to America, where he spent the best part of two years lecturing on the question which will form the subject of his speech in Temuka. He had barely returned home from America when he was ordered out to these colonies, and we all know that he has not slept on a bed of roses ever since. He may, therefore, be still “ worth his salt ” although he has not graduated in gaol. He has not been in Ireland long enough during Mr Balfour’s reign of terror to get into gaol. Sir Thomas Esmonde is young, but on referring to Whitaker’s

Almanac we find that his title is 261 years old. He is no upstart; be is a gentleman of ancient lineage. He is, too, a grand-nephew of “ the ever-glorious Grattan, the best of the good,” as Lord Byron called him, and has, therefore, the blood of one of the greatest orators who ever lived in his veins. If for no other reason, he deserves the respect of every lover of liberty, for few loved or worked harder for human freedom than the

illustrious Henry Grattan. It was he who secured for Ireland what is known as Grattan’s Parliament, and his grand-nephew—Sir Thomas Esmonde —is now seeking to obtain for her a similar privilege. Sir Thomas is also 1 a Protestant, a landlord, and a gentleman of position, who is working with and earnestness he has every-

where shown, not for gain, but for pure love of his native land. On these grounds we claim for him all honor and respect, and we feel certain he will receive them. His presence alone appears to us to be sufficient to upset all the stock arguments which are invariably used against Home Rule. He is a Protestant, and would not support Home Rule if it meant Rome Rule. He comes from a very Catholic part of the country; he understands the feelings, the thoughts, the aspirations,

the faults and the virtues of h’s Catholic neighbors better, at any rate, than people out here do, and he ought to be allowed to be the best judge of the religious aspect of the question. Mr Parnell is exactly what Sir Thomas is in every particular, even to the extent of being a grand-nephew of ' Sir John Parnell, one of Henry

Grattan’s colleagues; They are both gentlemen of ancient lineage, of the highest social position, and we ask, Is it consistent with common sense that fcheyare working in the interest of the Church of Rome, or to sever Ireland from England ? Sir Thomas Esmonde bears a title which, of course, would be an empty one if Ireland were to separate. Is he likely to work for

destroying a title which a long line of illustrious ancestors have handed down to him? Then Sir Thomas and Mr Parnell are both landlords. Would they favor Home Rule if they thought it would result in depriving them of their properties ? Now these gentlemen understand the people of Ireland; they know what they aim at; they know they have nothing else behind it, and they certainly ought to be allowed to understand the people amongst whom they were born and reared better than those who never saw them. In Sir Thomas Esmonde, therefore, we have all that ought to commandrespectful attention. Amongst English people a Protestant Irish landlord of ancient lineage is always regarded as trustworthy and honorable. Must he necessarily be untrustworthy and dishonorable because he happens to entertain political views different from the general run of his class P It would be unreasonable to think so, as it would amount to making love ©f country synonymous with immorality. We do not think that anyone in his senses will take such a view as that of it. Sir Thomas is the embodiment of all that ought to inspire general confidence. We promise, on his behalf, that he will treat the subject fairly, moderately, and dispassionately. Qis social position is, we think, a guarantee for that, and we therefore hope that those who desire information on this much discussed subject of Home Buie will come to hear him.